Former Oakland Mayor, Congressman Ron Dellums dies

[steve2470]

Source: Mercury News

OAKLAND — Ron Dellums, a former Oakland mayor who also served nearly three decades in the U.S. Congress, has died. He was 82.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) confirmed Dellums’ death Monday morning. He died Sunday after a battle with prostate cancer.

“It is with deep sadness that I can confirm the passing of a great warrior and statesman, Congressman Ron Dellums,” Lee said in a statement. “The contributions that Congressman Dellums made to our East Bay community, the nation and the world are too innumerable to count.”

Dellums served as Oakland’s 48th mayor from 2007-11, a term that started with high hopes but ended with his term characterized more by his absence from public view and his prickly attacks on the media.

Read more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/30/report-former-oakland-mayor-congressman-ron-dellum-dies/amp/

[H2O Man]

1. RIP

[sandensea]

2. Dellums spearheaded the fight against Apartheid in Congress

The 1986 sanctions bill he co-authored, which was vetoed by Raygun, was then overriden - one of the legendary congressional overrides in U.S. history.

"If it weren't for Thatcher and Reagan," Apartheid South African President P.W. Botha said, "we'd be all alone in the world."

And Ron Dellums helped keep it that way.

God speed.

[dalton99a]

4. +1

[11cents]

3. "Former Oakland mayor" really does him a disservice. But he did Oakland a disservice

His long spell in Congress was historic, but he should never have run for mayor, which he did several years after his retirement. He was pushed into it by local power brokers and possibly by family members, and was a disaster -- almost an absentee mayor, as this article says.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Wow. R.I.P.

He was powerful AND controversial (especially post-Congress) but one thing he was able to do was to help get reparations for the Japanese-Americans held in internment camps. How ironic that he lived to see the same "internment" go into place today for Mexican and Central American immigrants (including some of their citizen family members).

[Tactical Peek]

6. One of the mighty hath fallen.

[bullwinkle428]

7. R.I.P. He was the Maxine Waters of his day - i.e., a favorite target

of right-wingers, supposedly based on his positions, but clearly, a shit-ton to do with his race as well.